
Sarah's Key
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Polly Stone
Paris, July 1942: Sarah, a ten year-old girl, is brutally arrested with her family by the French police in the Vel' d'Hiv' roundup, but not before she locks her younger brother in a cupboard in the family's apartment, thinking that she will be back within a few hours.
Paris, May 2002: On Vel' d'Hiv's 60th anniversary, journalist Julia Jarmond is asked to write an article about this black day in France's past. Through her contemporary investigation, she stumbles onto a trail of long-hidden family secrets that connect her to Sarah. Julia finds herself compelled to retrace the girl's ordeal, from that terrible term in the Vel d'Hiv', to the camps, and beyond. As she probes into Sarah's past, she begins to question her own place in France, and to reevaluate her marriage and her life.
Tatiana de Rosnay offers us a brilliantly subtle, compelling portrait of France under occupation and reveals the taboos and silence that surround this painful episode.
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Editorial reviews
Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay is the heart-breaking tale of 10-year-old Sarah Stravinsky, a French Jew, and her journey during the Holocaust in 1942. Paralleling her story is the account of American journalist Julia Jarmond, in the year 2002, who is living in France and assigned to cover the 60th anniversary of the Vél' d'Hiv', the French round-ups in which little Sarah and her family were arrested and sent to concentration camps. The two women have a tie that binds, as Julia discovers her French in-laws have owned the apartment that Sarah once lived in since her family was removed from it. As Julia desperately searches for Sarah, hoping she was one of the lucky few who escaped death at Auschwitz, she uncovers the unspeakable horror that Sarah endured in the very same apartment - a secret that has haunted her in-laws for 60 years.
If the superb simplicity of this saga isn't enough to draw you in, Polly Stone's flawless narration will. She gives each character a distinct voice (complete with accurate accent and pitch), which lends authenticity, as if the characters themselves have come alive within her. This novel, like most accounts of the Holocaust, is weighty, ridden with horrific details. Stone's tone is subtle, letting these details ring out and strike your heart. She's also a master at building suspense, and you'll find yourself so endeared by little Sarah, that you will be white-knuckled for her during her frightening journey.
The last portion of the novel is a bit drawn out, but this is forgivable, as the denouement is touching, and Sarah's struggle is one that will stick with you long after you've finished listening to it. (Colleen Oakley)
Critic reviews
“Polly Stone's delivery of Sarah's story is riveting with its spare emotional power.” —AudioFile Magazine
“This is a remarkable historical novel, a book which brings to light a disturbing and deliberately hidden aspect of French behavior towards Jews during World War II. Like Sophie's Choice, it's a book that impresses itself upon one's heart and soul forever.” —Naomi Ragen, author of The Saturday Wife and The Covenant
“Sarah's Key unlocks the star crossed, heart thumping story of an American journalist in Paris and the 60-year-old secret that could destroy her marriage. This book will stay on your mind long after it's back on the shelf.” —Risa Miller, author of Welcome to Heavenly Heights
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Interesting history, fair story.
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HIstorical "chick-lit??"
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Just ehhhhh.....
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It truly is a memorable work.
Historically accurate, the overall story is not one I've come across before regarding the French and WWII.
Normally, when I'm reading historical fiction from this period (European WWI and WWII), I do not choose an author that writes from the perspective of " looking back" from the present time.
However, Tatiana de Rosnay is a wonderful exception to my self imposed "rule".
Without giving any spoilers or even a suggestion of the ending, I have to admit it was the reason I have the story 4 stars instead of 5.
That said, I think it's just a matter of preference on my part ( the way a story ends) and it truly takes nothing away from the novel.
I highly recommend "Sarah's Key"
Beautifully haunting.... And yet....
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The book is about an historical tragic event in Paris. Jews were rounded up in July 1942 by French police under orders of the Nazis and eventually taken to camps to be exterminated. The story follows the fate of one of those Jewish children, a 10 year old named Sarah, who managed to escape. Sixty years later, approaching the anniversary of this "rounding up" event, an American journalist living in Paris wants to write a story about the girl and her experiences. She becomes obsessed with the story of Sarah and wants to find her. Her detective work reveals that many French, including members of her own family(in-laws,) would rather not remember their participation in the events of 1942. Digging up the past and the revelation of secrets creates both agony and hope.
I was left with a conflicting feeling that the revelation of secrets can both harm and free a person. I enjoyed the book, told from the viewpoint of two different time periods. One viewpoint, Sarah's, takes place in 1942 and the other in 2002 from the viewpoint of the journalist who is looking back in time.
True event fictionalized
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Thought provoking and intelligent
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Would you consider the audio edition of Sarah's Key to be better than the print version?
I haven't read the print version, but i really enjoyed the audio version!Who was your favorite character and why?
Sarah. She was so strong and such a surviver.Any additional comments?
This was such a great rendition of a WW2 story. From a unusual point of view and really well tied together between the past and present. I liked the transitions and the narrater did a great job at making the time switch clear with her tone. I found myself so invested in the characters and the story. I'm not one who cries much, but this one was definitely a tear jerker!!An amazing tear jerker!
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Love love love
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Melancholy
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Wonderfull
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